Florida woman. Former Jersey girl/Jersey driver. Likes hairspray, the beach and cutting you off on the A1A.

Menu

Shopping Tip Of The Day

I’ve been carrying around an Urban Expressions “Sandra” wallet in Kelly Green for about three years. I say wallet because that’s what they call it but it’s really a self-contained universe all on its own. It’s got two open-wide kisslock sections, a deep zippered pocket and some easy access card slots – that’s a lot of storage for the average purse, let alone wallet. I do put it in a big purse or a laptop bag as the situation calls for, but I most often carry it alone into stores or out to dinner. It makes a quite a sensation when you slap it down on the bar at Martini Night.

Here is my own (I should say “old” because I just bought the gold one from Shoemall) rather lumpy but überfunctional wallet, shown both packed and unpacked:

On one side, I keep my money, my phone and my earbuds. On the other – and this is what makes this wallet so fabulous – I carry:

a baggie full of antibacterial handwipes, bandaids, safety pins and a Tide Pen

my rarely worn but sometimes necessary clip-on name badge

whatever jewelry I take off while I’m on the road

a random key to something

an ink pen

a comb

a folding mirror

a pill box

an emery board

2 lipsticks

my good luck hope the plane doesn’t crash Padre Pio keychain

a magnifier

a small note pad

When the wallet lies open, there are the usual credit and insurance cards and driver’s lisence. I keep receipts and some extra folding money in the zippered part. Really, it’s miracle of function and design.

You male readers might not think there’s much in this post for you but picture this:

You and I are at the same dinner table.YOU– whoops! Your wine glass gets knocked over. You reach for it but it spills on your hand and on your shirt. You almost had it but when you lunged for it, it fell and smashed making a small cut on your finger. The exertion of trying to prevent its fall pops a button off of your shirt.ME – Here’s a handiwipe. Here’s a Tide pen. Here’s a bandaid. Here’s a safety pin. BOOM. You should buy one of these for your wife.

Urban Expressions has a quirk in identifying their products. The patent and metallic versions of this wallet is called “Susan”; the plain “vegan leather” version is called “Sandra”. There are still places that sell many colors of Sandra but not at such a good deal as at Shoemall.http://www.baghaus.com/urban-expressions-sandra-framed-wallet.html
.

Just bought 3 Sandras at Baghaus. They were $24something each, and then there was a 20% discount and free shipping. Did get nicked for sales tax. Red, hot pink and purple. The red is for me (I am up to here with searching for my big black wallet in all the black interiors of my bags – plus red cheers me up) and the hot colors for DIL and granddaughter gifts. They’re supposed to be here the 14th. Amazing. Thanks for the tip.

Now I’ll probably need rotator cuff surgery for having too heavy a bag….

“The patent and metallic versions of this wallet is called “Susan””. Well, that’s an omen right there…

Men don’t carry purses, shoulder bags are metrosexual, so we are stuck with our wallets and our pockets (granted, we have more of the latter usually than in women’s outfits). For years I had an LL Bean wallet a lot like this one…

… but in dark blue canvas. It held everything I needed and was easy to grab but stuck up out of my hip pocket so people kept thinking I was about to lose it and would say something. Plus, as it got worn (and comfy) my wife began to object to it.

So now I have this little dinky 3-fold wallet that feels like a rock back there. They have since stopped making the one I had. They have others of similar capacity, but with zippers, side straps and other fol de rol I don’t want. Feh.

My son and his FIL swear by these super thin wallets (which they first found at the Del Mar, CA, county fair a few years ago). My son buys the ripstop nylon version. Gets a new one every 3 years or so. You might want to have a look: